There are days that I read stuff like this and wonder if I'm having a dream. Or a nightmare. Is this a comment on the perception that the U.S. media has become toothless that the Air Force secretary thinks using a new weapon on Americans will cause less trouble than if we use it overseas?
Air Force chief: Test weapons on testy U.S. mobs
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before being used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.
The object is basically public relations. Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions from others about possible safety considerations, said Secretary Michael Wynne.
"If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne. "(Because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press."
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"The object is basically public relations."
Hmmm. And what public would that be? It's a shame Bernais (sp?) is dead. He'd have fun with that.
"Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions from others about possible safety considerations, said Secretary Michael Wynne."
"If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne.
There's a certain perverse logic to this that reminds me of 50s cold war government brain-seizures (like a brainstorm, but lacking a positive dimension) like building canals with atomic bombs.
"(Because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press."
As opposed to the domestic press, where he doubts anyone would notice? Is that the implication?
Perhaps the best idea is for nonlethal weapons to be tested on the program managers and then on all officers above Major or equivalent rank. That would include the Congress and Cabinet members too.
A new credo: "You buy it, you try it."
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